Using YouShop – my experiences and advice

Call it a first world problem, but I had been uhhmmm-ing and ahhhh-ing about using YouShop for a really long time, to the point where I literally couldn’t get it off my mind and Black Friday (American sale day of the year) deals were vibrating in my email inbox. YouShop is an amazing service, but it can be confusing and worrying at first, so I thought I would share my experience with you all.

Firstly, YouShop (I’ll link all websites below) is a service provided by NZ Post. Basically the way it goes is you sign up online and receive an American postal address to use which is actually an NZ Post warehouse. You get a special ID assigned with your name and address so that they receive your packages and then forward them on to you for a fee, at home in NZ. I found it really easy to sign up and receive my ‘address’.

I made my purchase on the official American e.l.f/eyeslipsface website, which for the record make fantastic beauty products at unbelievable prices. E.l.f products can be found on other websites, but are often a lot more expensive or not internationally shipped, hence the reason why YouShop comes in handy!

I purchased 13 small-ish sized products, a mixture of a few brushes and make up products. This cost me $35NZD, this included shipping to my American address AND a completely free 12 piece brush set – AMAZING RIGHT! I love black Friday.

YouShop emailed me as soon as the package arrived at the warehouse. I signed into the website and gave a few extra details including the packages value. You are then charged your shipping cost on either the actual weight or the volumetric weight (which ever is greater). My shipping cost was $31.50NZD. Was I happy about that price?…… no, not really, but did I really want my package? YES!!!! So I paid, tracked my package on its way to me and after 7 days it was in my excited, little hands.

There are a lot of pro’s and con’s to weigh up when you decide to use YouShop. In my case, I felt at first that the shipping price was excessive due to the cost being almost higher then my products value. But, I was more understanding when I saw the oversized box e.l.f had used – I had obviously been charged on volumetric weight =( . Although, looking at the costs of purchasing the same products from an NZ website, YouShop comes out on top – being cheaper overall in regards to price and product availability. Buying the same products through an American website who ship internationally still ended up being more expensive for the same reasons, and shipping cost was still going to be an issue.

YouShop is a really amazing service which easily helps you get products which otherwise may have been almost impossible to get, but you need to be prepared and do your research! Check that you can’t get your products from a more local source first, and be aware that the shipping cost may be more than you’d hoped, even if you have purchased something small. Many people recommend saving YouShop for bigger, ‘bulk’ type purchases and ask your merchant to pack the items in as smaller box or package as possible.

Me, I’m hesitating, but I have a large MAC US order just waiting for the send button to be clicked…. happy shopping!